The Submission Jungle

I have been fortunate in the past few months to have received a number of rejections.

"HUH??" you say.

Let me explain.

There are rejections, and then there are REJECTIONS. I'm not getting REJECTIONS anymore, which means the markets I'm sending to don't mail me back a form letter that basically says, "You just don't cut it, honey." Instead, I'm getting personal, positive rejections that say things like, "We liked your story but...", or "Great story but...", or "We'd like to see more of your work..." or even BETTER--"Great story but the ending just didn't feel right to me. But please send more!" I like it when they take the time to tell you why they didn't buy the story. That's the HOLY GRAIL of rejection letters! And I've gotten quite a few of those.

Of course you can't guarantee that a form rejection means the market didn't like your stuff at all. Many times it simply means that the market is too busy to send anything but rejection letters and acceptance letters. I've tried to avoid those markets. Especially now that I'm working as a slush editor.

Now, back to submitting, and maybe I'll start getting more letters that say, "We loved your story and want to buy it!"